Page 31 - Living Light - A Message of Joy!

Friday January 5 - How faith works
But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and
service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
Philippians 2:17
Paul writes while under arrest in Rome. He knows that living for ‘the sake of the gospel’ may yet cost him his life, but nonetheless he is glad and rejoices with his friends. Paul describes his life in terms of ‘being poured out as a drink offering’. A drink offering (see Genesis 35:14 and Numbers 15:5) was made at the place of sacrifice, and involved wine being poured out on the altar.
In Paul’s very last letter he writes, ‘For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith’ (2 Timothy 4:6-7). At the close of Paul’s life, he was indeed ‘poured out’, fulfilled in the knowledge that, ‘...to me (Paul), to live is Christ and to die is gain’ (Philippians 1:21).
This ‘pouring out’ was not just in Paul’s death but was something he lived by. He put to one side the pleasures of life; Paul spoke about this in Philippians chapter 3. His background, his religious heritage, his accomplishments; he counted all these things as ‘loss’. Rather, Paul chose to be ‘poured out’, his life becoming a ‘drink offering’ to the Lord. Paul followed in the footsteps of his Lord and Saviour – will we?
Father God, this seems so, so hard. I ask for your strength and grace to express faith through sacrifice and service. I ask this in your name and for your glory. Amen.
Saturday January 6 - How rejoicing works
I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and
rejoice with me. Philippians 2:17-18
We end our week aptly with joy and gladness. Paul states that the Philippian church should share his joy and gladness, even though their circumstances were quite different from his own. This gives us the key: true joy and gladness do not depend on circumstances but on something more profound.
Jesus is our example; his joy and gladness did not deny his sorrow and grief. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples that his soul was “deeply grieved to the point of death” (Mark 14:34) and yet, we are told, ‘...for the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross’ (Hebrews 12:2). The cross itself was no joyful experience, but joy sustained Jesus through times of deep sorrow and grief. The same can be true for us.
Isaiah endorses this wonderful truth: ‘Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away’ (Isaiah 51:11).
Paul is not suggesting that gladness means putting on a superficial happy face, painting over deep sorrow. Rather, joy flows from knowing that our God is sovereign, always working things together for good. Take a few moments now, quietly before God, to begin to praise him, and as your soul ‘returns to Zion’ allow his gladness and joy to dispel sorrow and mourning. Hallelujah!
Father God, may my relationship with you be underpinned by overflowing joy and gladness. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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